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Depending on the application, volatile methylsiloxanes (VMS) may evaporate into the air before entering other environmental compartments such as water or soil. In air, they are degraded in the presence of sunlight, ultimately to silica, water and carbon dioxide.

Experiments also show that siloxanes do not contribute to ground level ozone pollution, and because of this, have not been classified as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). On account of their relatively short atmospheric life they do not reach the upper atmosphere to affect the ozone layer.